Thoughts I Had... The "Big Eyes" Poster
Sunday, October 19, 2014 at 9:16AM We finally have a poster for Tim Burton's Big Eyes. Herewith some thoughts as they came to me.
• "Visionary Director" would be so much more impressive as a description if it weren't so overused.
• "Big Eyes" could well describe lots of celebrities: Emma Stone, Amanda Seyfried, Marty Feldman*, Heather Graham, Jake Gyllenhaal, Susan Sarandon, Anne Hathaway, Sailor Moon.
• Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams have Normal-Sized Eyes but that will never be a film title. The only person in this cast with gargantuan eyeballs is Krysten Ritter
• The tag line is basic but it does cleverly have a double meaning with the last bit "... and everyone bought it"
• A lot of people seem to be sure that this one won't be a major Oscar player but apart from test screenings (a notoriously unreliable source of info) no one has seen it so it's one of our mystery movies when it comes to the competition this year.
• The Big Eyes team, cast and crew, has been nominated for 37 Oscars and won 7 (most of those for Waltz & Colleen Atwood).
• Why do they always make ginger movie stars blondes when the movies take place in the 1950s? There were actually more gingers back then statistically. (And I don't want any "Amy Adams isn't a natural ginger!" backtalk in the comments -don't be literal!)
• It's fun that the screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski get such prominent yellow billing at the bottom. We'll pretend it's a retroactive thank you for Ed Wood (1994) rather than a contractual negotiation!
*Just wanted to see if you were paying attention
Reader Comments (14)
I watched the trailer for the first time this morning and thought to myself, "This movie seems so un-Burton for Tim Burton to have directed it." How sad for a filmmaker when that's a selling point.
I loved Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds" and believed him to be the best of the "Carnage" quartet, yet I can't escaped the feeling that his skill set and an actor is peculiarly limited for someone who gets his opportunities.
It's one freaky poster, do you think "Visionary Director" is a pun?
On a scale of 1-100 I give it an 80. The title is clear and those freak-ass clown eyes are impossible to miss so a direct connection to the story is clear. You won't miss this thumbing through a magazine or driving by a bill board and that is the purpose of the poster.
On the other hand, Adams and Waltz (bigger draws to the film than Burton for the general public) are too small, don't look like themselves and aren't prominent in the print. They are banking on the painting's appeal being the biggest draw to the film and I'm not sure that is wise. I think they are underestimating how divisive those paintings are.
I heard it won't be an oscars type movie.
Well, it's eye catching.
And it looks accessible to a wide audience.
It's a refreshing complement to some of the very serious potential nominees about war, violence, political unrest and oppression, etc. It looks like there's comedy and weirdness there, but not as artistically auteur as Inherent Vice or Birdman.
The cast, including those not shown in the poster, is great. It makes me think it could fill the Oscar niche occupied by last year's American Hustle, but maybe I'm making a spurious Amy Adams connection there.
The poster surely does capture attention. I didn't even notice the stars at first but that's why I like it. Tag line is clever. I heard Waltz will be campaigned lead but I see him in supporting shortlist as the race is much weaker. I hope Burton gone substance over style (while being stylish) with this one.
The art is ugly creepy kitsch, not unlike Thomas Kincade, that is, slightly above dogs playing pool and black-velvet Elvis. I have a hard time grasping why we should care who created it unless it offers some larger satisfaction or cultural commentary. But the trailer makes it look as though Burton has drained himself of all his weirdness and whimsy in order to do a standard-biopic approach. Amy appears to be doing her earnest Amy thing, all righteous feminist indignation that her ownership of her "art" is being impugned! It would be ironic if she received her 6th nomination for playing an overachieving artist in a culture without standards.
"I heard Waltz will be campaigned lead but I see him in supporting shortlist as the race is much weaker."
For the third time.
I'm sooooo not buying this as an Oscar play. The director is way past his prime, Amy doesn't seem to be doing much that's interesting, and I doubt they'll exploit the weirdness of the paintings.
The one thing that would make it cool is if they go full second-half-of-Black-Swan and have Amy going crazy and seeing the big eyes in everyone, or something. She's being totally oversold as a shoo-in contender, I think.
If Adams wasn't so obviously photoshopped in (that's her from a widely-seen still of the film), I'd really like this poster. I kinda love the tagline.
I agree with you about visionary director- why is the painting so big? - at first it looks like a movie about a couple with a giant freak child- tag line is good- will this be another "Ed Wood" which is still Burton's best movie and one of the best movies made about Hollywood.
Sailor Moon reference = made of win.
Riding off of what Joe said, the Waltz image has also been used in other pictures before.
The two of them are also painting around the girl's crotch. Um ...
Anyway, I saw an early cut of this. Interesting story, Adams was fine, Waltz ridiculously over-the-tope, the climax was a mess. There has also been backstage gossip that Harvey has given up on this film. I wouldn't find it that surprising. Not to forget: this film, which has been in the can for a while, never even got a festival berth. Adams still has a chance, maybe one tech. If the AMPAS nominate Waltz, then they really have no self-respect. I have a hard time imagining an MC score that goes much past the early 70s, if it's lucky.
Nat - Emma Stone doesn't have big eyes. She has average eyes.
I think the poster looks alright. I wonder if Amy will get her 6th nomination. It's weird that we haven't heard any promotion activities for this film....what's going on with Harvey?